All fingers are crossed that Kentucky Derby 2021 will go as planned on the first Saturday in May following the rescheduling of the 2020 Derby. If that is the case, the prep schedule will look much more like we are usually accustomed to. For the first time in the points era, preps in California, New York, Florida and Kentucky will be run without Lasix. Horses who do run on the medication will not receive Derby points. Those horses are designated with a [*] in the chart.
Essential Quality, who has won the Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile, already has thirty points - but time will tell if he will have much more work to do to earn a berth. The remaining hopefuls have plenty of time and opportunities to vault their way up the Derby point leaderboard.
The following are results of each prep race and points earned. The table will be updated reflecting any changes to the schedule.
| Date | Race | Track | Distance | 1st (points) | 2nd (points) | 3rd (points) | 4th (points) |
| Sept. 5 | Iroquois | Churchill Downs | 1 mile | Sittin on Go (10) | Midnight Bourbon (4) | Super Stock (2) | Therideofalifetime (1) |
| Sept. 26 | American Pharoah | Santa Anita | 1 1/16 miles | Get Her Number (10) | Rombauer (4) | Speilberg (2) | Waspirant (1) |
Oct. 3
| Breeders' Futurity | Keeneland | 1 1/16 miles | Essential Quality (10) | Keepmeinmind (4) | Super Stock (2) | Upstriker (1) |
| Oct. 10 | Champagne | Belmont Park | 1 mile | Jackie's Warrior (10) | Reinvestment Risk (4) | Midnight Bourbon (2) | Civil War (1) |
| Nov. 6 | Breeders' Cup Juvenile | Santa Anita | 1 1/16 miles | Essential Quality (20) | Hot Rod Charlie (8) | Keepmeinmind (4) | Jackie's Warrior (2) |
| Nov. 28 | Kentucky Jockey Club | Churchill Downs | 1 1/16 miles | Keepmeinmind (10) | Smiley Sobotka (4) | Arabian Prince (2) | Swill (1) |
| Dec. 5 | Remsen | Aqueduct | 1 1/8 miles | Brooklyn Strong (10) | Ten for Ten (4) | Known Agenda (2) | Pickin Time(1) |
| Dec. 18 | Springboard Mile | Remington Park | 1 mile | Señor Buscador* | (4) Cowan | Red N'Wild | Saffa's Day |
| Dec. 19 | Los Alamitos Futurity | Los Alamitos | 1 1/16 miles | (10) Spielberg | (4) The Great One | (2) Petruchio | (1) Red Flag |
| Jan. 1 | Jerome | Aqueduct | 1 mile | (10) Kapo Cane | (4) Eagle Orb | (2) Hold the Salsa | (1) Swill |
| Jan. 2 | Sham | Santa Anita | 1 mile | (10) Life is Good | (4) Medina Spirit | (2) Parnelli | (1) Waspirant |
| Jan. 16 | Lecomte | Fair Grounds | 1 1/16 miles | (10) | (4) | (2) | (1) |
| Jan. 22 | Smarty Jones | Oaklawn Park | 1 mile | (10) | (4) | (2) | (1) |
| Jan. 30 | Robert B. Lewis | Santa Anita | 1 1/16 miles | (10) | (4) | (2) | (1) |
| Jan. 30 | Holy Bull | Gulfstream Park | 1 1/16 miles | (10) | (4) | (2) | (1) |
| Feb. 6 | Withers | Aqueduct | 1 1/8 miles | (10) | (4) | (2) | (1) |
| Feb. 6 | Sam F. Davis | Tampa Bay Downs | 1 1/16 miles | (10) | (4) | (2) | (1) |
| Feb. 13 | El Camino Real | Golden Gate | 1 1/8 miles (AW) | (10) | (4) | (2) | (1) |
| Feb. 13 | Risen Star | Fair Grounds | 1 1/8 miles | (50) | (20) | (10) | (5) |
| Feb. 15 | Southwest | Oaklawn Park | 1 1/16 miles | (10) | (4) | (2) | (1) |
| Feb. 27 | Fountain of Youth | Gulfstream Park | 1 1/16 miles | (50) | (20) | (10) | (5) |
| Mar. 6 | Gotham | Aqueduct | 1 mile | (50) | (20) | (10) | (5) |
| Mar. 6 | Tampa Bay Derby | Tampa Bay Downs | 1 1/16 miles | (50) | (20) | (10) | (5) |
| Mar. 6 | San Felipe | Santa Anita | 1 1/16 miles | (50) | (20) | (10) | (5) |
| Mar. 13 | Rebel | Oaklawn Park | 1 1/16 miles | (50) | (20) | (10) | (5) |
| Mar. 13 | Jeff Ruby Steaks | Turfway Park | 1 1/8 miles (AW) | (100) | (40) | (20) | (10) |
| Mar. 20 | Louisiana Derby | Fair Grounds | 1 3/16 miles | (100) | (40) | (20) | (10) |
| Mar. 27 | Florida Derby | Gulfstream Park | 1 1/8 miles | (100) | (40) | (20) | (10) |
| Apr. 3 | Santa Anita Derby | Santa Anita | 1 1/8 miles | (100) | (40) | (20) | (10) |
| Apr. 3 | Wood Memorial | Aqueduct | 1 1/8 Miles | (100) | (40) | (20) | (10) |
| Apr. 10 | Arkansas Derby | Oaklawn Park | 1 1/8 miles | (100) | (40) | (20) | (10) |
| Apr. 2021 | Blue Grass | Keeneland | 1 1/8 miles | (100) | (40) | (20) | (10) |
| Apr. 2021 | Lexington | Keeneland | 1 1/16 miles | (20) | (8) | (4) | (2) |
